Reviews & Short Features

Reviews of Books American History in Schools and Colleges: The Report of the Committee on American History in Schools and Colleges of the American His torical Association, the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, the National Council for the Social Studies. EDGAR B. WESLEY, di rector of the committee. (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1944. xiv, 148 p. I1.25.) Do Americans know their own history? For the past two years this question has been much discussed in the public press. Patriotic societies, luncheon clubs, and public-spirited organizations of many kinds have, in rising crescendo, answered it with a vigorous "No." More recently the New York Times and national weeklies have opened their columns to the discussion. The climax was reached when the results of a test of information about American history administered to several thousand recent graduates of high schools were published. This seemed to prove that the charge was true. It seemed also to prove that the blame for this deplorable situation must be laid to the schools. Such a challenge could not be ignored. It was eminently proper that the question should be examined by the national associations of scholars and teachers of American history, for these are in a real sense the offi cial custodians of our common responsibility in this matter. On the initiative of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, which was quickly joined by the American Historical Association and the National Council for Social Studies, a committee of fourteen, representing all sec tions of the country and all school levels, was appointed to make a study of the matter. With the help of the Rockefeller Foundation, this com mittee was enabled to carry through its work before the end of 1943. The report of its findings is contained in this litde volume of scarcely more than a hundred pages. The language of this report is extraordinarily clear, direct, and vigor ous. It examines all the charges and blinks at none of the facts. It scru tinizes the results of the tests by which the work of the schools was condemned and likewise examines the test itself. It reports also the re sults of a test of its own which was administered to a wide range of per sons from high school students to individuals listed in Who's Who. It 168 1944 WESLEY : AMERICAN HISTORY IN SCHOOLS 169 examines suggestions for improvement made in the public discussion and adds suggestions and recommendations of its own. Some of these recommendations, notably the minimum list of names and dates to be learned at the successive grade levels in which American history is taught, are certain to arouse discussion and debate. The committee makes no claims to omniscience nor even of final authority. The pun gent, provocative style of its report frankly invites criticism and sugges tions. The public will want to read and study this report. Both the public and the school authorities will find it profitable to discuss it chapter by chapter. If this is generally done, it will lead not only to the mutual understanding of the problems involved but — which is even more im portant— to a great improvement in the effectiveness of school instruc tion in American history. The committee apparently feels confident that such will be the case. It is well to warn the reader that this is no mere controversial state ment. Despite its clear language, its brevity, and the relatively short time in which it was completed, this report is a major contribution to the understanding of this problem. The reviewer knows of no better state ment in so brief a compass of why Americans should know their own history than is to be found in the second chapter of this report. It has drawn on the best of antecedent thought and added something of its own. Nor does the reviewer know of a clearer, wiser, or more practical method of making the successive courses in American history continu ously interesting and effective than is set forth in chapter 6, however much difference of opinion may arise as to details. Likewise it will be hard to find anywhere a clearer statement of the distinctive function of American history as apart from social studies. These are among the out standing contributions of the report. They reflect many years of careful study and maturity of thought applied to that study. We can thank the current controversy in the press as affording the opportunity for the publi cation of this report. We can also thank that controversy for the relatively simple, vigorous, and clear language in which it is written — language intelligible alike to the public-spirited layman and the teacher. Readers of Minnesota History will find the report of added interest because of the prominent part taken in it by three members of the Min nesota Historical Society. Dr. Guy Stanton Ford, now executive officer of the Amercian Historical Association, and Dean Theodore C. Blegen, until recently president of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, 170 REVIEWS OF BOOKS 1""^ were co-chairmen of the committee, and Professor Exlgar B. Wesley of the University of Minnesota was the director of the study. AUGUST C. KREY A Short History of American Democracy. By JOHN D. HICKS. (Boston, Houghton Mifffin Company, 1943. xii, 858, xxxiv p. Illustrations, maps. $4.00.) A Short History of American Democracy. By ROY F. NICHOLS and JEAN- NETTE P. NICHOLS. (New York, D. Appleton-Century Company, 1943. xvii, 626, Ixx p. Illustrations, maps. $4.00.) Twentieth Century United States: A History. By JEANNETTE P. NICHOLS. (New York, D. Appleton-Century Company, 1943. xiii, 435, Ixxi p. Illustrations, maps. $3.50.) These volumes are excellent illustrations of the truism that each gen eration must rewrite the nation's history in the light of its own experi ences. Today in a world at war people are finding it necessary to revise or to discard long-cherished ideas and beliefs. Democracy as practiced in the United States is being praised and criticized as never before. Events are moving so rapidly that their significance cannot yet be fully gauged. It is against this background of confusion and complexity that the pres ent interpretations of the country's past have been written. The volumes have much in common. Their purpose is to make the reader conscious of his heritage, to enable him to understand the present, and to equip him to meet intelligently a constantly changing future. Each volume is largely a condensation of earlier works. Dr. Hicks has drawn heavily upon his works on The Federal Union and The Ameri can Nation, while the Nichols relied mainly on their Growth of American Democracy and The Republic of the United States. In all three cases, however, there has been rewriting and the addition of new material. Each of the authors feels vitally the value of the American experiment in democracy. Particularly do the Nichols keep ever before the reader the story of the early development and evolution of democ racy in our society. Professor Hicks and the Nichols in A Short History of American Democracy cover the same ground — the European background of American history through Pearl Harbor, with some mention of a few of the highlights of 1942. The Nichols' text is briefer than the other, and it sacrifices interesting detail accordingly. A definite liberal tone is ap parent in the Nichols' interpretation, whereas Mr. Hicks achieves greater 1944 TANSILL : CANADIAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS I7I objectivity, yet without losing vitality of style. Both volumes devote more space to the later years than to the earlier period of American develop ment. Mr. Hicks dispenses with the Colonial era and the Revolution in 98 pages; the Nichols manage it in 103 pages. The period from the Revolution through the Civil War receives 310 pages in the Hicks and 152 pages in the Nichols volume. The years from 1865 to 1920 consume 311 pages in the former and 232 pages in the latter book, while each gives 139 pages to the years from 1920 to 1942. All phases of American life, including the military, are adequately discussed. The Nichols have included sixteen pages of bibliography. Mr. Hicks, on the other hand, has confined himself to giving footnote references to supplementary read ings throughout his text. The general format, illustrations, and maps of the Hicks volume are excellent and add much to the attractiveness of the book. The Nichols work suffers by comparison in these matters. Particu larly are its maps lacking in uniformity and quality. Both, of course, have indexes. In addition, the Declaration of Independence, the Consti tution, and lists of the presidents, vice-presidents, and cabinet members have been included by the Nichols in an appendix. Chapters i and 2 of the Twentieth Century United States were writ ten solely for this work, in order to provide a background for an under standing of the forces behind the 1900's, and the final chapter is mainly new material. The rest of the book, essentially, appeared in the second volume of The Republic of the United States. Like that work, the pres ent study is well done. The years 1918 to 1942 are allotted 200 out of a total of 435 pages. Selective bibliographies are appended to each chapter, and a book list is placed at the end of the volume. The Constitution, the presidential vote from 1900 to 1940, names of cabinet members, and the political complexion of Congress appear in the appendix. It is difficult to wax enthusiastic over textbooks. None of these vol umes is a classic, yet each is a scholarly piece of work.

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